Relic: Discovery
by tamayoriko
Summary: [Anime AU] Book 1. Two years after a set of incidents that cost Ash of Pallet Town his eye and arm and nearly his life, he steps back out of his hometown and into the Kanto region. This time, the Spearow are definitely the least of his problems.Eventual Abilityshipping
1. Chapter 1: Before the Dawn

**Author's Note:** Hi, this is my first fic and um, well, it's a reboot/canon divergence!AU, mixing anime, manga, movie and game canons, as well as some little bits about the novels. Note that this story takes place two years after the anime would have started, so a lot of onetime characters won't be showing up here. Ash started his journey... and it didn't go well, so I'm not following the anime's plot beyond the basics, and the movies. in game canon, it would be around HGSS time period. If there are events you want to see from the anime, please request in the reviews and I'll see if I can work it in. The same goes for original characters, but I need to make a form for that. so maybe wait on those.

Pairings are currently undecided or if there will even be any. The rating is currently T for swear words, canon-appropriate violence, and a few other little details.

There is a character in this story that's technically not an OC but isn't in the list and feels more like one, so that's what I'm labeling them.

Ash isn't the same kid he was in the anime, but he's still himself, and that allows for a bit of dorkiness. Small canon change including he nickname certain Pokemon.

Please review and let me know what you think, or just read on and enjoy. Thanks everybody! Have fun!

* * *

**_Chapter One: Before the Dawn_**

_-It is never to early to go for the gold, even when everything around you is pitch-black.-_

For the third time in a row that evening, twelve-year-old Ash woke in a cold sweat. He didn't sit up this time, but the bandaged stump on his right side tried to move, thumping uselessly against the sheets as he breathed. His other arm moved to grab it, but on his stomach, something began to stir. The creature shifted off of his stomach and rolled, long yellow and black ears twitching. It made a high-pitched yawn, blinking open beady eyes.

"Again_, long-face_," it squeaked, rolling onto its back again, sparks flying from its white cheeks. _"I swear, we need to get you a Hypno or something, so you don't kick me off of the bed."_

Ash gave a low groan, debating throwing one of his pillows over the Pokemon's head. Instead he readjusted his position on the bed, sure that his twitching had stopped. "I don't have my stupid aid in Chase, you're wastin' yer breath." He yawned. "Go back to sleep..."

"_I'd rather have stayed asleep in the first place," _Chase replied, the Pikachu scratching one of his ears and looking out of one of the bedroom windows. The sky was lighter than it had been the last time they had gone through this nightmare scare, but there was still no sign of the sun. With a sigh, the Pokemon decided to just get up. He could sleep on the walk, anyway. Leaving Ash already snoring, he hopped down and almost yelped. Nearly stepped on a screw.

Would it kill this guy to pick up after himself before he fell asleep? Always waited until the last damn minute.

With tender footsteps, Chase scampered out of the room into the... already lit hallway. Well, that was anti-climatic. He had been planning to sneak a berry run but this was just as good. He leaped down the banister and slid to thump onto the floor. He stopped just inside the kitchen, thumping his tail against a wooden chair. The woman by the sink turned and smiled, loose brown waves of hair scrambled about her face and nearly dipping into the mug she was drinking from. Tea, smelling of Rawst leaves and Pinap seeds. Odd combination, but the mother of his trainer was very much an odd woman.

Even so, she was a good human.

"Looks like no one's getting any sleep tonight, huh?" she said, and Chase took that as his cue to step over to her, running to her slippered feet and crawling up her leg. She offered him the tea and he grimaced, shaking his head no. He already couldn't sleep like the dead, that stuff mandated him clinging to a tree branch for hours. "Too many nightmares... new journey jitters, I suppose." Chase nodded, yawning. Delia smiled, scratching behind one long ear. "My boy's going back out into the wide world. I should be grateful I had him the extra year or so I did, huh?"

"_You love 'em, miss," _Chase said, knowing she wouldn't understand, knowing she just couldn't. Ash couldn't either, most of the time, without the aid in. _"You shouldn't wanna let him go."_

Pokemon trainers. The Peter Pans of the world, fulfilling their dreams of adventure no matter the danger, it was practically a requirement for any kid who could do it to go out there and fend for themselves in the wild. No one _had_ to go of course, but what else could they do with themselves until the age of sixteen?

Chase had heard the spiel often enough through the doorway, worried mothers wondering about the boy holed up on his room, tinkering with his wires and sometimes setting off the smoke alarm. Though the woman next to him took these people seriously, the Pikachu knew better. Those humans were just stupid.

She sighed, either catching his drift or talking to herself. "Well, his father went, and we see where that got him. Ash will do well... sure, he'll have his problems." She laughed. "Boy can't go a mile without getting dragged into someone's mess or his own. But this time, he'll really have you with him, right Chase?" Delia looked down at the small Pikachu, brushing at his fur. "You're going to protect my son."

"_Yes ma'am,"_ the Pikachu said, balling up one paw like a fist. _"Always."_

Delia seemed relieved even though she didn't understand. "You'd better or I won't leave your Berry Juice in Ash's bag!"

"_Not nice!"_

She laughed at his put-out face and turned to look out the window to watch the sun lighten the sky. Not long after that, Ash came downstairs, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Delia looked at him and smiled, only to wrinkle her nose seconds later.

"Ash! Wash up, your bandages are falling off!"

"But wha's for breakfast?" he mumbled, mussing his already messy hair.

"You know perfectly well what's for breakfast, but if you don't at least get dressed, you're not leaving at all!"

Chase snickered.

* * *

"Chase, that all of the batteries?"

"_Unless you swallowed any, yeah." _

Ash rolled his eyes. "Very funny, you cheeky little-"

"_Well, if I ain't cheeky, I ain't yours!"_

"Don't make me take out the hearing aid," Ash muttered, not being serious. He knew how much his partner hated having no one to talk to. He adjusted his toolkit one more time, putting it in his battered green bag. He fiddled with the zipper for a few moments, bag shaking on the desk. Chase sighed and went to help.

He wrinkled his nose as he put his weight against the bag. _"You really wanna bring this tattered thing with you?"_

"Come on, it's classic League merchandise!" Ash protested, managing the old zipper after another minute of effort. "Only thing I've got left that fits from back then..." His face fell for all of five seconds before he bubbled up again. "Humor me, buddy!"

Chase sighed. _"You're getting a new one when you can afford it. I ain't sleeping in that thing."_

Ash hugged him in the crook of his armpit. "You're the best mouse a guy could ever nearly die for!"

"_I'm _gonna_ die if you keep choking me in your sweat!"_

Ash let him go when Chase gave up and decided to zap him on the arm, laughing. "You're no fun sometimes!"

"_Speak for yourself." _Chase pawed at his tail for a moment, then glanced at the covered object next to a stack of Pokemon study guides and mechanical repair manuals. Ash followed his eyes and then looked away from it, fingers trailing over his empty shirt sleeve. _"You gonna hesitate now?"_

"N-No!" Ash glowered at him, and the Pikachu raised a diminutive eyebrow. "Of course I'm not, it's just a bunch of metal and wire!" Chase wisely decided not to remind his sometimes dunderheaded friend that wires had _copper _in them and let him go on. "But... it's also _their _metal and wire and plastic thing and it don't... it doesn't replace the real thing, okay?"

Chase rather thought a fake arm was _supposed_ to do that, but he had little solid memory of Ash _with _two normal arms, so he really had nothing to compare it to._ "You don't think that when you're using it." _He knew the thing was a bit heavy sometimes, and was murder to fix, but last he checked, humans needed two arms like he needed his tail.

"That's cause I don't use it much!" Ash groaned, patting his blue vest to get the jitters away. "Look, buddy, just help me attach the thing so we can go. I don't even think the professor's up yet but you never know."

"_We did once see him up at sunrise taking someone's Ponyta for a chase of the stars." _Chase hopped up to the stack, tugging at the mechanical contraption with his tail. He half-carried it over, watching Ash undo the bandages. _"How's your eye, Ash?"_

"Fine," the human said distractedly, toying with the socket of the arm. "Can you hold this steady?" Pikachu crawled up, yanking on Ash's arm socket. After a few minutes, and one gentle Pikachu shock, Ash flexed the mechanical fingers, pulling the skin colored glove over the arm. He grimaced at it. "Okay, I can deal with it now... probably."

"_Just don't accidentally throw a Pokeball with it," _Chase joked and Ash laughed.

"Pretty sure this dumb thing will stop me." He pointed at his right eye and then went to grab his bag. "Well then," he said, grinning. "It's finally time, Chase! We're going on a journey! For real this time!"

Chase pumped a fist in the air. _"All the havoc I can wreak! To chaos!"_

"To chaos!" Ash agreed. "And to Mt. Silver!"

* * *

"Mom, why are you following me?"

"Oh, what?" she laughed, adjusting her hat to block out the sun. "Does it bother you?"

Ash scratched his head. "Well, you're my mom..."

"_You act like your mom wasn't an ace fighter back in the day."_

"...Shut up Chase."

Chase wore a smug smirk for the rest of the walk as Delia laughed at them both. "You two really are best friends."

"Mom!" Ash protested, trying to not smile and failing. "Stop pointing out the obvious."

"Then maybe Ashy-boy shouldn't try to be so obvious then?" This suggestion was made from the hill above, voice slightly nasal from allergies. Ash looked up and saluted the teen sitting on the wooden fence.

"Sup, Gare-bear?"

Gary scowled. "Don't call me that," he said without any real venom.

"Then no cutesy names," Ash shot back, sticking out his tongue. "You know the rules."

"Screw the rules," his rival said, brushing back spikes of brown hair. "I have connections."

"_Language," _Chase said in mock shock, and by Gary's feet, a black Pokemon tittered its amusement.

Gary scoffed and Delia chuckled behind her hand. "Behave boys, is your grandfather awake, Gary?"

"Someone just dropped a collection of thirty Tauros on him," Gary said dryly. "He's looking for the farms that were having a shortage to send them around. I picked a bad time to finish doing his fieldwork project."

Ash tried not to laugh and his mother didn't even bother. "Perfect timing," she chirped. "I'll go and see if I can give him a hand. You two play nice now." Both boys snorted at the idea.

Gary barely waited for the woman to make it through the door before flipping down to the road. "Whaddaya say, Ashy-boy? Ceremonial battle for the road?" The Pokemon jumped down after him, ear rings fading in and out of view. "Or should I call it a ceremonial _loss_?"

"In your dreams maybe," Ash replied, dropping Pikachu to the ground.

Chase bounded over, raising his paws into curled fists. _"To chaos!" _he roared, well, squeaked, at the opponent. The Umbreon snickered again.

"_Raise the armies of the dead_," she fired back. _"And we shall teach the legions of the angels to fear our might!"_

"_Chaos!"_ they cried together and Ash and Gary both had to facepalm.

"Our Pokemon are insane," Gary decided, pocketing the Pokeball he had been toying with.

"Be thankful you don't know what they're saying," Ash said with a sigh. "Chase, war cry over! Fight now!"

Chase rolled his eyes and crouched. _"Humans don't understand the seriousness of expressing fighting spirit,"_ he decided.

"_But they do understand the importance of_ fighting_!"_ Umbreon lunged, preparing to bite into Chase's flank, but Chase ducked and spun, smacking his tail to scratch into her side. She twisted her body, getting pushed back and landing on her feet.

"There they go!" Ash shouted. "Slowpokes, for real! Chase, get 'er!"

"Blackie, keep him away with your nails!"

"_CAT FIGHT!" _ Chase squeaked, jumping back on his front paws, gathering electricity around his tail. Blackie batted him off, sinking her teeth into his ear. Chase squeaked and tried to shake her off. _"I'm trapped in your pits again Ash!"_

Ash groaned. "Electrocute her! She's a girl, she can take a better hit than you!"

Chase rolled his eyes and headbutt Blackie in the jaw. Electricity sparked from the white cheeks and burst out, sending Blackie flying back. Chase tackled Blackie, and they rolled on the dirt road, kicking up grit and clawing at each other's faces.

"Guess we can't play around, huh?" Gary asked, covering his eyes. Ash ducked under the brim of his hat, coughing his agreement. They both couldn't stop grinning, however. "I thought you had more strategy than this, Ashy-boy!"

"You try strategy when your Pikachu is a psycho," Ash grumbled. "Chase, you love your tail right?"

Chase blinked, then grinned, kicking Blackie off with all four paws. He swung himself off after, tail glowing silver as he swung it. Blackie caught it in her teeth and muffled a yelp of pain. Chase squeaked, trying to shake her off and failing.

"Throw him!" The Umbreon happily obeyed, tossing the metal tail and Chase to spin up.

"Thundershock!" Ash shouted in alarm, seeing Chase's eyes spinning.

"Dark Pulse!" Gary said with a smirk.

Chase recovered himself and managed to fire. Blackie dodged, rolling as it continued to charge a mass of black and purple around her mouth.

"How'd you manage to get that TM?" Ash couldn't help asking as he ran to catch Chase.

"Luck that some idiots always drop their TM discs?" Gary offered. "You surrenderin', Ash?"

Ash looked at Chase, who was scratching his ear and whining about his fur, and at Blackie, who seemed to be fidgeting with the attack, and sighed. "Probably should, since I actually need to get _through _Viridian this time 'round. We'll forfeit."

"Never thought I'd hear Ash tell me he forfeits in anything," Gary mused, kneeling to scratch his Pokemon behind the ears. Umbreon let go of the attack, whining in relief. "You really oughta get Chase back on the leash."

"I'm not having another Spearow moment, Gary," Ash muttered, grinning. "I don't think either of us want a repeat of that." He glanced at Chase, who shuddered at the memory of dozens of beaks piercing skin and ripping off fur and _no_, they weren't having another Spearow moment. It was a fast way to have gotten to Viridian, but that was not happening again.

"Heard that whole flock was imported to Unova a month after that," Gary said with a roll of his eyes. "Nice and crispy now."

"Ewww!"Ash groaned. "I didn't need to know that! They really do fry _every_ bird over there, huh?"

"Pretty much," Gary said, glancing up at Professor Oak's lab. "Come on, I'm sure grandpa's done by now. You need to get a new Pokedex, right?"

Ash blushed and nodded, picking up Chase again. "It's upgraded now, right?"

"More software than hardware, but yeah." Gary went back up the steps with a low yelp as Blackie went around his legs. "The memory is still too small to get more than three regions worth of Pokemon right now without an upgrade. By the way, speaking of upgrade... you sure you want to have Chase with you on the League circuit?" He glanced at the Pikachu as he went to the door. "He ain't exactly standard fare, ya know."

"It's not his fault!" Ash defended, mussing up the fur on top of Chase's head. "If it weren't for those creeps..." Ash looked outside of Pallet Town. "If it weren't for _him..." _Ash went quiet, which Gary decided to appreciate until the silence became really awkward.

"Well, we'd probably still hate each other," Gary muttered sheepishly to break it. Ash looked up from his glowering at the dirt and a playful smile crossed his face.

"What, are we friends now?"

"... I prefer the term close acquaintances."

"Those are two words I didn't know you knew."

"Speak for yourself!" Gary hit him over the head. "I'm surprised you could open a dictionary without crying."

Delia opened the door and sighed. "I said to_ behave_. Are you both still ten?"

"Yes," they said automatically and stopped wrestling each other. Ash tried to not laugh at his mother's pout and glanced at Gary, who had his all-knowing smirk on again. There must have been a synapse in the brain that made that happen on a whim. Or something. Whatever.

"Well, you woke up on time this go-around, didn't you, Ash?" Oak said as they entered the room. He was trying to muss down his gray hair, his wall phone dangling off of its holder and beeping dully. Chase leaped to return it to the cradle. The thing drove him nuts!

Ash laughed. "Couldn't stay asleep this time! And I can't break my alarm either!" He laughed again and the professor offered him a benign chuckle. _It's good he can make a joke,_ the man thought. _If Ash can still joke about near death experiences and who knows what else, the rest of us are fine._

"I'm sure you'd find a way to sleep through anything if you try hard enough," Oak remarked with a sly chuckle, getting up and heading towards his computer. "Can that eye of yours sync to the computer, Ash?"

"It's not that good," Ash grumbled. "I'm lucky it knows I can blink."

Gary muffled a snort at his dramatics and Professor Oak sighed. "Shame, but don't worry, we can work with it. Here." He tossed a red device and Ash fumbled for it, ending with Chase diving to save it.

"Hey, you're the one who kept telling me that it was valuable!" Ash protested, grabbing the Pokedex and protectively cradling it to his chest. "I don't want to lose this one."

"_You'll lose what marbles you've got before you lose that, you idiot." _Chase licked at his paws, rubbing them over his head.

"You're not going to lose it this time, Ash," Oak said, trying not to smile. The kid bouncing up and down in his pajamas with the temperamental Pikachu tied to a rope was not this young man with messier hair and a cheeky partner at his ear. "You've grown up a little."

"Of course he has," Delia said, hugging her son into her arms. At ten he would have resisted, but now he hugged her back. "He's my son."

Her son, not his.

"I'm gonna do you proud this time," Ash said, looking at everyone in the room. "I'm gonna do everybody proud... and kick Gary's butt at the League."

"Hmph!" Gary scoffed. "Can't wait to see that, Ashy-boy!"

Ash squirmed free now and grinned. "Just you wait and see! I'll become a legend!"

"_We have to get out of town before that can happen," _Chase said snidely.

"Oh, who asked you?" Ash went to the door. He took a deep breath and pumped his fist. "All right, we're going! And this time, we'll come back on our own feet!"

His mother smiled as Chase jumped to Ash's back. "We know. Call once in a while!"

"You got it!"

Running out the door, through the streets of his hometown, Ash knew it wasn't any different than it had been the first time he had set off. But it seemed a lot smaller, the world a lot bigger than the many small houses. He passed by school children heading off the way he had come from and Chase waved. The kids waved back and he tried to contain the shout in his lungs and failed.

"To chaos!" he yelled and he heard the echoing giggles behind him. "To Indigo Plateau!"

_To revenge._

The last one was a secret for now.


	2. Chapter 2: A Noonday Storm

**Author's Note: **Hi everybody! Sorry, this took so long, I've had trouble with whether to put the nice, big fight sequence in this chapter or not. If I had, this probably would have been longer. I'm really hoping these chapters take no less than a month, so, please do keep up the alerts because of the lack of a consistent update schedule.

My previous messages still qualify. I will make them public to my profile at some point.

Please let me know what you think, guys. A couple of words will be enough, even if you think it's not all that great.

There are a lot of allusions and use of "Bland Name Product" and "Gosh Darn it to Heck" tropes in this one too. I couldn't help it.

Thank you to all of you for favoriting and following along. Here we go!

* * *

**_Chapter Two: A Noonday Storm_**

_-"There's never enough puddles to make a child realize they're getting a cold. That's the best part."-_

Ash made it about two miles down Route One before he accepted the fact that this route was boring. How most trainers wiped out around here was beyond him. Then again, the sun was up. He knew he had to be by the water or under a tree by the time it went down. Otherwise, there would be a crap-ton of Spearow on his butt and even though they weren't the reason why his eye was suddenly acting like it was pitching a fit, he retained no _fondness _for the uptight little rats with wings. He didn't care that Chase could electrocute them all into an extinct species. It was _not_ Ash's idea of a good time to deal with them.

Even so...

"You know, in retrospect, the scenic route isn't as exciting as the way we went the first time." Ash looked through the grass, noting a Rattata gnawing its way through a seed pile. He waved a hand at it through the waist-high grass and it blinked its red eyes at him, narrowing the stare to a leer. Ash jumped and edged back. "Ehehe... Maybe I stand corrected there." _That move _would _work on humans, wouldn't it?_

"_Speak for yourself. I like not having my teensy hairs fried but if you're that much of a masochist, go for it, buddy." _Chase rolled over on Ash's backpack to look at what was making him edge away and cackled. "_Wuss. Hold on." _Chase bunched his muscles and leaped, spinning like a ball out of a pinball machine. His tail glowed silver as he swung it down. "_Iron Bat of Doom!"_

"That's your tail," Ash couldn't help but comment, sweat dripping from the side of his forehead. The Rattata shrieked and lunged for Chase's face, only to be smacked into the trunk of a nearby tree. It cried something Ash guessed was a curse word but he couldn't be sure. He placed one of his fingers in his ear where the hearing aid sat and pressed the middle button. There was a little crooning beep and the device began to work. He grinned. "Now came the fun... if utterly basic, part of this. "Give him the smack down, kay Chase?"

"_Was already doin' that, than- yeow!"_The Rattata had bitten into his no longer metallic tail and it was starting to swell. "_Son of a Houndoom, you bit me, you imitation of a Pichu on paint fumes!"_

"_At least I don't spend my days being chased around a house by a Persian!" _the Rattata retorted. Ash only understood a third of this, his hearing aid was still processing it all, but he was able to laugh about it. Pokemon cursing came out so weird.

"Chase, you do realize you're a living lightning conductor, right?" he asked and Chase groaned.

"_That's why it hurts, damn idiot!" _Without hesitating, he electrocuted the creature, and Ash had to wince and pull out the aid because it sounded like the poor creature was being murdered. Cursing, panicked screaming, eurgh, he had had enough nightmares last night.

He let out a sigh and reached into one of his bag pockets with his left hand. "Chase, I'm supposed to catch the little guys, not kill them! Seriously, killing innocents isn't cool."

"_Says you,"_grumbled the mouse, scampering back towards him as Ash threw the Pokeball at the now twitching Rattata.

Ash knelt then flicked Chase's black nose. "Jerk," he said affectionately, adjusting the brim of his hat. "Go get the ball, will ya?" Chase obeyed reluctantly as the ball stopped twitching, carrying it back to Ash. "The Professor probably has way too many of these little guys," Ash murmured, examining the ball. "They tend to breed like Buneary. Ah well, there'll be a parent who will give him to their kid." He straightened and picked up his partner again. "Come on, let's go so you can nurse your tail."

Chase scoffed. "_You just lack all of the sympathy for me, don't you?"_

"Well, the last time I touched your tail without permission, you fried my eyebrows off."

"_... They grew back."_

"And it took forever!" Chase huffed. Ash countered with the best pout he could muster, and then they both laughed, deciding to keep walking.

It took another hour or so before Ash complained again. This time, his voice was echoing because all of the Pokemon seemed to not be in the mood to annoy him. "God, it's _boiling_out here!" He really wanted to pull off his vest but knowing his luck, he'd forget to put it in his bag.

"Um, you've got three layers of clothes on, your arm has a glove on it for some reason, some of your clothes are colors that absorb light, and you have a Pikachu on your shoulder absorbing electricity. It's gonna be kinda hot for you, buddy." There was a tiny, airy laugh. "Kinda sucks to be you."

Ash whirled towards whoever had just spoken, and then winced. His right eye began to whirr and whine, brown iris and paling into pure metal at the sight of... a girl? His eye was not helping him pick up chicks. Besides, this girl was tiny, looked younger than he had been when he had first attempted to go on a journey. Chase scrambled to climb back onto his right shoulder, having been nearly thrown off by Ash forgetting he was there. As soon as he had somewhat stable ground again, he examined the girl who had rattled his partner and was-

"_Dude, the chick's high as a kite!"_Chase laughed. "_She's floatin', man!"_

The sad thing was, neither of these was entirely inaccurate. The girl was floating just over the dirt path, creamed coffee fingers clenched tightly around bunches of leaves. Her eyes blinked in puzzlement as she blushed and realized what was wrong. Looking down at herself, she shifted a moment in the air. Her cheeks turned as pink as her pale rose hair.

"Could you, um, pull me down?"

Ash rubbed one eye, debating giving her a sassy remark for her earlier comment. But the look on her face spoke of discomfort and he figured he knew a lot about making an unintentional spectacle of himself, so he walked over to the girl through the patch of tall grass and wrapped his arm around her waist with his one arm, pulling her down with a hefty tug with the other. A bit heavy, but no heavier than any of the other neighborhood kids he dragged by their ankles to see the professor. She gave a sheepish little wink.

"Thanks," she said, tapping the ground with her toes for a few moments. "Probably should grab my bracelets so I don't do that again." She made to move but he saw her beginning to float up again and grabbed her.

"Uh... why don't you show me where they are and I'll walk you over," he said, cracking a smile. She was a bit heavy until she was on the ground, but she somehow managed to float like a Drifloon. She was so small. It was weird. Chase moved to sit on her hair.

"_Ash, I think she actually washes her hair. Give this guy tips, __will ya girly?"_

Ash glowered at him and the girl laughed. "Your partner's got good taste," she said and then frowned. "I wasn't supposed to say that. Sorry. People don't usually want to know that."

Ash and Chase both stared at her, thinking it over. "You're a psychic," Ash blurted out before he could stop himself. Psychics and Pokemon whisperers, the latter mostly from Viridian or any other "forest" city, could do what his hearing aid could only mimic. People said the best trainers learned how to hear Pokemon over years of being with them, but any kid was raised with one. So he honestly thought the whole "hearing Pokemon voices" thing was bunk

Chase facepalmed as the girl blinked, turning the whole thing over. They could see it in her face, the way she wasn't just thinking of it, but it was like she was picking it apart with a toolkit. Ash looked at Chase and scratched one of his ears. When he had first met the Pikachu, he had no hearing aid for Pokemon, but he knew the face the girl was wearing well-enough.

How much could she get away with saying, before she got hurt?

Ash quickly massaged his own face, in hopes he wasn't wearing the same look.

"Not a very good one," she finally said, looking amused "That's the only thing I can do right."

"And float," Ash said cheekily and the girl stuck out her tongue.

She mussed up her short hair and rolled her eyes. "In case you've missed, I can't do it very well, or, you know, I could land." The girl pointed towards where a black bag sat by a tree. "In there."

Ash nodded and started leading her over. "Have you ever stopped being able to see the ground?"

The girl thought about it. "About once," she said sheepishly. "And some Birds helped me."

"_That seems awesome though!"_ Chase retorted. _"Getting to fly that high and not losin' your lunch!" _He smirked. _"Wish Pikachu could fly."_

Ash rolled his eyes. "Chase, dude, buddy, the Chaos is supposed to be on the _ground_," he said with a snicker. "I'm Ash, by the way," he told the girl, grinning wider beneath the brim of his ball cap as Chase squeaked his disbelief. "Just restarted my journey after some... _issues_." He decided not to elaborate; the girl probably wasn't interested.

"Amber," she replied as they reached the tree. She flicked her eyes at him, looking at what she probably didn't realize was an artificial arm. Or she didn't seem to care, which was all right by him. If he had the ability to just float off into the air, some kid with a fake arm was probably normal. Now if only his eye would stop tripping out over her... she was just some psychic.

Whoever replaced the thing had some screws loose.

Ash let her go, watching her rummage and letting Chase clamber down and sniff at her feet. Her ankles were slightly thin, almost bony, and there were indents below the bone. "You're staring," she said before even thirty seconds had passed and Ash smiled weakly.

"I don't want you to fly away?" he offered and Amber giggled, rolling her eyes and sitting on the ground. She pulled out what at first glance appeared to be bracelets and this time, the eye seemed to shriek, temporarily painting half of his vision over in blue. "What the flying-" He bit the curse back because there was a child nearby, shutting his eye. He put a hand to his head and groaned. "I'm seeing blue," he whined and Chase scurried over, sniffing at his ear.

"You ain't bleedin', buddy," he deadpanned and Ash rolled his eyes.

"Thanks!"

He forced himself to look at Amber again, who was blinking up at him like a Noctowl. Her fingers were wrapped around the bracelets, which looking again (this time more carefully, he could see lines of purple running in small bursts over the black metal. He felt a twinge of pain run from head to toe and heard a noise in the back of his mind, like the buzzing of a saw.

"Hey," he said before he could stop himself. "Where did ya get those?"

Chase looked at his paling face, puzzled, then looked at Amber., who fiddled curiously with the hem of her pale dress. _"Ash, you all right?"_ he asked.

"They found them on my wrists," Amber said, preventing Ash from lying and Chase from digging too deep. "One of the guards there said they saw me just standing there in the snow."

Ash blinked, and an awkward laugh left his mouth. "That's funny," he said weakly. "Mom told me those guys saw me doing the exact same thing, except I had Chase." He smiled. "That's kinda weird."

–

Having gotten the bracelets on and now sure that she wasn't flying, the two of them found themselves walking together. It wasn't awkward, like that odd similarity between them destroyed a wall that Ash didn't think existed most of the time. Chase seemed to enjoy jumping from one head to the other, sniffing at the air. Or he was just trying to give Ash a headache. He seemed to enjoy that too.

Cheeky bastard.

Ash released Rattata to sniff around, deciding to see how badly he needed to twist Chase's ear for going overboard. The rat looked a little singed, but eventually managed to waddle after them on her stubby legs. Then Amber picked her up, scratching one purple ear with thin fingers. The Pokemon made a tiny squeak of contentment and glowered at Chase, who grinned back from Ash's shoulder.

"Your Pikachu's gotta few screws loose, huh?" Amber asked rhetorically, now busying herself with trying to seat the Pokemon comfortably onto her shoulder, rather, Ash noticed, like Chase was now doing to him.

He laughed it off, considering. "Him and me both," he said with a grin. "It's what makes us the best."

"The best outta what?" she asked, glancing up at his face.

Ash blushed. "Dang, well... at being us!" He tried to strike a cool pose as they walked and failed. "And cause chaos!"

"_Chaos is the death of boredom," _Chase said with a wise grin as he looked down from his sniffing.

The unnamed Rattata snorted. _"_You _were almost the death of me."_

"_It builds character," _huffed the Pikachu, scratching an ear. _"Ash, it's gonna rain."_

Ash looked around. The afternoon sky was starting to gray and he let out a low sigh. "Glad mum remembered one o' those tents, cause god knows I'd forget." He started looking around. "We should find a good place to set up and wait it out." He didn't want to risk his arm in the storm. He had little memory of how well it held up in water.

Okay, honestly, he didn't remember at all, but at least he knew it was bad manners to leave a kid (especially a girl) out in the rain.

Amber nodded again. "Good thing you were here earlier," she said playfully, toying with a bracelet. "Maybe you would've ended up seeing me in the storm, a pink projectile bouncing off of the trees."

Ash grimaced at the image. "I'd never have been able to catch you. This route and me have a bad history with storms."

"_And Spearow,"_ Chase grumbled.

"That too."

Finding flat ground beneath the tree, Ash gratefully dropped his bag onto the ground and began to rummage through it. Rattata sniffed at each bit of metal and plastic he pulled out, beginning to pick them up in her mouth.

"_Oi, fangs for brains," _Chase squeaked from his spot in a tree. He was watching the oncoming clouds. _"Ash needs those for putting the tent up."_

"_I__'ve been on this route for ages," _replied the Rattata, rolling her eyes. _"You think I haven't seen some humans pitch one of these weirdo cloth things?"_

Chase let out a high-pitched grunt and gave up, scurrying back down to Ash trying to tie the knots. His artificial arm moved slightly slower and he grimaced until Amber took the rope and tied it instead. "Thanks," he said, sighing. "The glove makes it a bit less mobile cause it's loose, but it's better looking like this." He hammered a post down and Amber only winked.

"We all have our handicaps, Ashyboy," she quipped and his face heated up.

"Are you sneaking in my head?"

Amber giggled. "Is there anything in there besides rocks and chaos?" she asked as they continued to set up the tent.

"_Electricity from me trying to shock his brain into working,"_ Chase supplied. _"Don' think it did much."_

Ash sat there a moment. "All of you are against me, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," said the Rattata.

Ash pouted and then mussed up Amber's hair until she squealed in alarm, sticking out her tongue and dodging away.

"Run away and you can't get in the rain shelter!" he singsonged and she groaned.

"You... jerk!"

"That's not nearly as bad as your last insult!"

She blew a Razz Berry at him and he pretended to wipe spit from his face, glowering. For a moment, he thought of a redhead and a scorched bike, but then pushed it from his mind. That girl was probably long through the trainer's circuit by now.

He'd just have to show her up when he made it there.

Inside the tent, Ash unzipped his sleeping bag so it made a mat on the bottom of the tent. It was bigger than he thought... probably because he tended to kick in his sleep on bad nights. But for now, it was perfect. He crawled in and Chase jumped after him, landing on his belly with a minor wince from Ash. Amber hesitated, but then picked up the Rattata (_'I can walk,'_ the rodent squealed, to no avail.) and followed him, zipping it up behind her.

"You in some kind of hurry?" he asked. She shook her head, splaying on the fabric like a pink and lavender blob (a Ditto?) with her face buried in the side of the sleeping bag.

"Nighttime," he eventually heard from her muffled mouth and Ash winced.

They were in the middle of Route One, the notorious route of murdering beginning trainers if they did something stupid when the stars were out, barring outside of the Seafoam Islands, if someone was dumb enough to start there.

"Well, if the storm doesn't fade out by then, we should be fine," Ash said to defuse the possible panic, as his new Rattata (when had he decided to keep the fella?) started shivering. "And, besides, the tent's a bit hard to break, so even if we're stuck here till morning, it can't be that bad."

"_Famous last words,"_ Chase intoned and Ash rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut up."

Amber made another amused laugh, which sounded a bit like a cat Pokemon he had seen on TV once, and rolled on her side. "Gotta love the eternal optimism," she said and closed her eyes.

Ash waited for her breathing to slow to roll back over, facing Chase. Chase blinked his beady eyes at him and said simply. _"I like her. Caught your rhythm and all."_

"The bracelets made my eye go nuts," Ash said in an equally low voice. His eye didn't flip out for just any old trinket. "But, she's a kid. Probably don't mean any harm, right?"

"_It's never been the kids you__'re supposed to worry about. Don't you watch any of the movies I point at"_

"Yeah, yeah..." Ash rubbed at his elbow, seeing the Rattata curl against Amber's head. "What do you think she was doing out here?"

"_Her fingers smelled like Berries."_

Ash shrugged. That didn't say much, but he would trust Chase on deciphering it, he always said the mouse was smarter than him most of the time. "i hope it's all a coincidence."

"_Never is, buddy. That's why we need more Chaos."_

Ash hugged Chase. "So true, man, so true." He reached into his pack again and pulled out a large blue watch. He flipped the screen open and fiddled with the radio. Outside, rain started to pour and in the distance, Ash thought he heard someone, or something scream.

He hoped it was just his imagination.


	3. Chapter 3: Strike the Blood

**Author's Note: **I think I was just really eager to write this chapter because now it is done. Thanks for that. Starting chapter four after the weekend. I am warning now, if it wasn't clear earlier, I am not shirking from less-than-savory topics. I will keep the tone light as often as I can, but this is not the same friendly Pokemon world we all grew up with. Especially as of this chapter. This is mostly an action chapter, so I warn of _non-graphic violence_ (That's a warning for probably every chapter in general). There is also _death_ in this chapter.

I'll be putting the Pokemon list on my profile next chapter and updating it from there with the main team. Pokemon in box... not so much. :D

Please read and review my friends! Thank you to those who have already done so. Also, I, um, lack a beta, so if anybody wants to, please drop a word in my inbox.

Onward!

* * *

_**Chapter Three: Strike the Blood**_

_-"When in doubt, communicate in the way you know best. You'll get your answers soon enough."-_

Ash didn't want to wake up.

Well, to be fair, that wasn't new. He _never_ wanted to wake up. He liked anything to do with sleep. Except it was hard to do right now when there was a very loud beeping near his ear and something slapping him in the face.

His bastard of a Pikachu was waking him up, wasn't he?

God _damn it_, Chase.

"_Ash, move your blue-jeaned tailless butt! We've got a problem!"_

Ash groaned. "Shut up, Chase, you know I slept like crap last night!" What time _was_ it anyway?

There was a _thunk_ and he yelped in pain, sitting up as Chase moved to stand on his legs, front paws crossed and offending tail back where it belonged. _"I _said _we have a problem, slinky-for-brains."_

"Like what?" he grumbled and rubbed his head, looking through the translucent tent flap. Outside, the storm still rumbled, rain continuing to plop onto the ground loudly enough that Ash couldn't help examine the tent for impossible leaks. Thankfully, it wasn't even bending. Probably thanks to the tree.

_Thump._

He looked up and saw nothing, hearing the noise again. "What the heck?" His Pokedex beeped for what was probably the seventh time and he rubbed his bionic eye, feeling it suddenly itch. "That ain't no leak, is it?"

"It'd be wet in here." Amber was crawling towards the zipper on the tent door, holding Rattata in her free arm.

_Thump. Splat._

"Okay, the heck is that noise?"

"_Birds," _Chase replied in what was a mixture of concern and derisive glee. _"Bird Pokemon dropping from the sky like anvils. Smells like burnt Pidgey and Spearow, man."_

"There's what?" Ash glowered at Chase and tried to ignore the wiggle of pleasure at the thought of falling birds on fire.

"_You heard me, you little_-" Chase's irritable comment was caught up by something falling onto and nearly breaking the tent. It rolled off and squawked as it thumped, screeching in pain. Beneath that came the sound of a howling in the sky, higher than the pitch of the thunder. Ash grimaced and pulled himself on all-fours.

"Okay, so it's clear being in here's not gonna solve jack," he muttered, making sure the glove on his arm was fully covering the metal. He wasn't sure how well the skin glove was going to protect his arm, but a thunderstorm was always a great test run for anything stupid. "Let's go. Amber, you do know how to fight with a Pokemon, right?"

"Mmhm." No smart remarks, no bite like he had gotten from _other _kids who he saw unable to open a Pokeball even, and she only adjusted her bracelets and winked at him. "Ready when you are, ace trainer."

Ash grinned. "That's the spirit. Here!" He cracked his neck. "Whatever's out there, it's gotta be pretty tough if there are baby birds plopping around and the Gyarados mama ain't poppin' out to take a look at it. Let's team up and try to catch it, ya hear? Take Rattata."

_"Oh wonderful,"_ Rattata said drily, stretching and rising to all fours. Chase smirked.

"_You've got wicked teeth, I've got a wicked tail. Let's make Chaos, bro."_

"_You two are insane."_

Ash laughed. "Damn right." He unzipped the tent and made his way out, then coughed at the smell. "Urgh... something's on fire..." He looked around and grimaced. "Or... Or someone was."

Pidgey and Spearow lay scorched on the earth. Some had twitching talons, others were completely still, each stinking of recently charred meat. A few still were crying out. The air was almost still, anticipating the next crash of lightning. At the sight of their beaks moving, Ash shivered, then promptly shook his head, stepping and straightening his stance. His mechanical eye twinged, then he was seeing-

"Okay, now I'm getting blue again." His eye moved without his permission and he grimaced, seeing the top of his- he was just not going to think about that. He really needed to get technology that he actually got to see built, or someone he knew that got computers could see built. He still had no clue what crappy programs were installed. They might fry his brain or something.

"Ash," Amber said suddenly. "Your Pokedex is still beeping." She carried it over, Rattata on her shoulder. Her big eyes stared outside as she looked around. Lightning isn't very good at causing this much-."

"Concentrated damage, yeah," Ash agreed, looking on the ground. "Birdies should be all over the place, not just...,will you shut up you stupid thing?" He glared down at the Pokedex in his hands, would have thrown it and then it only beeped louder in unison with a broken shriek.

"New Pokemon detected. Unfamiliar typing detected."

As half of his vision turned blue, Ash stared at the Pokedex in utter confusion until it continued in the most unhelpful tone, nasal with a bit of pride. "Shadow Pokemon type detected. Shadow Pokemon type detected."

"There's a _what_?"

Chase crashed into him a second after he said that, knocking Ash to the ground. A black blur squirmed over their heads and they heard Amber cry out from the ground. Ash quickly sat up to see the girl stumbling back, hands smoking. The lightning flashed and Ash saw the attacker soar into the air again, crying out with one of the Pidgey. His bionic eye kicked in now, changing his vision and causing Ash to groan in slight pain. Then, it cleared, slowly bringing a bluish creature into focus.

"Why is there a Shadow Pokemon all the way out here?"

It screamed and dove at the sound of Ash's voice. Ash rolled flat onto his back as Chase jumped into its way, knocked into a tree. _"Holy crap..." _Chase grumbled. _"Owww..."_

"You guys okay?" he shouted, pulling himself to his feet and checking his arm. There was a Shadow Pokemon on the loose in the middle of a storm! If this was his journey on day one, he was praying to the Legendary Gods that he was going to _survive _the rest of it, let alone get to Mt. Silver. His arm was twitching, but seemed to not notice the water. "This is insane, Shadow tech is supposed to have been stuck in Orre! What the heck is it doing out here?"

"_Can we question that when it's not trying to kill us?"_ Chase screamed, running up the tree trunk he had smacked into and leaping off to smack into the flying Pokemon. It swam out of the way to dodge and Chase hit the ground with a groan. Amber sat up and blew on her hands, scrambling away from a blast of energy.

Ash dodged a move towards his head and rolled, ball cap flying off of his head. He caught himself on one knee glaring up. His Pokedex beeped. "Shadow Pokemon detected! Identifying species..."

"the thing could do it a bit faster," Ash muttered and looked down at the sound of a weak cheep near his foot. He looked down at a singed Pidgey and flinched, fingers twitching without his notice for a few seconds. "Oh god... Ash, this ain't the time to chitter and shake," he muttered, scooping up the bird and running to put it in the tent. "Hey, Amber, if you can, try and get all of these guys in there until we take care of this."

"What if they're dead?" she asked softly, watching the creature arc into the air. She dodged a burst of energy, Rattata scrambling and rolling after her.

Ash grimaced. "Then put 'em in the bushes. Some meat eater will grab them." He shook the thought of twitching beaks out of his head and scowled at the air. "Hey, Chase, think we can drag that thing down here so I can tell what it is?"

"_it's keeping it down here that'll be the pain of it," _Chase replied, racing up the tree again. He went to a higher branch and jumped, aiming to sink his fangs into one of the Pokemon's sides. It screamed and batted Chase away like a baseball. The Pikachu caught himself and crouched, cheeks sparking.

Amber nodded, glancing at Rattata. "Can you sniff and check?" The Pokemon gave a little salute, sniffing each one and squeaking at the living ones. Amber glanced at Ash, nodded, and scrambled after her. In the lightning, he saw her bracelets glitter, and turned away.

"Now, Chase, fetch!" he said and the Pikachu jumped into the air, releasing a burst of electricity as he launched forward. The Pokemon screeched and hit the ground, slapping Chase away again and lunging forward.

"Shadow Pokemon analyzed. Dratini identified." The Pokedex, following this, finally went silent and still, allowing Ash to throw and plop it on his sleeping bag.

Ash barely heard this before cringing back. "Oh, we are screwed..." Then he adjusted his ball cap and grinned. "Awesome! Chase, punch it in the face! Let's make some mayhem!"

Chase curled one paw and punched, squealing, _"Chaos! Chaos! We're gonna raise some hell!" _The Dratini didn't seem to care, squirming and glowing purple, knocking Chase to the side. Pikachu spun with his tail and the dragon screeched and whined, the end of its own tail twitching with agitation and energy. Chase moved to dodge, but was struck back. He flew back, and Ash went to catch him, almost flying into the tent. Amber placed the last bird inside and ran to help them up. _"Freaking Dragons..." _Chase groaned.

Ash sat up slowly, his arm shifting in the dirt. "Hey, Amber, can you control your floating problem with the jewelry on?" Amber nodded, blowing on her hands in the rain. "We're gonna need to get it outta the air somehow, so get ready to go up there!"

"Oh fun, dancing through lightning," she mumbled. "I'm definitely not that good."

Ash winced and then pulled her down as Dratini rushed them. It smacked into the tree trunk with a squeak of rage. Eyes crossed, it dove again towards them. Rattata jumped in the way, sinking her teeth into one white fin. With a scream, Dratini knocked Rattata away, bouncing her towards the swelling stream. It didn't even glance back at Ash and the others, lunging for the Rattata with red light running around its scales.

Ash covered the hearing aid as Rattata screeched. It dug its fangs back into Dratini in desperation and her opponent only raised itself from the ground and spun, throwing Rattata down with a rough slam and a splat into the mud. There was another weak cry and Ash managed to stand up again, lunging. Empty Pokeballs fell from his pockets but he didn't notice.

"Leave her alone," he roared, wrapping his arms around the squirming serpent. Dratini squeaked and screeched and smacked its tail back against Ash's neck. He grimaced in pain but clung on, waiting for Rattata to limp away. "Oh no, you don't!" Dratini lunged towards its face and screamed in his ear and Ash was never so grateful for his hearing aid to be malfunctioning so he couldn't understand it.

Chase looked at the Pokeballs and then at Amber. He kicked one towards her and then made an odd gesture with his tail. Amber stared at him, before picking up the ball and looking down at her feet. Her fingers burned but she ignored it. Closing her eyes, she didn't see the bracelets light up with dark purple lines. She kicked off and Chase leapt to her shoulder.

"_Hold onto it there, Ashy!" _Chase shouted and Ash wore a weak grin, rain splashing into his hair.

"I can hold you through a bath, I can hold this guy-ow!" The Dratini kept right on struggling, maddened eyes glowering at Ash, who smirked. "Sorry, you ain't goin' anywhere."

Amber opened her eyes a moment later and dodged a stray branch. "How much higher?" She felt like a drunken Koffing.

Chase leaped off her shoulder and climbed up the rest of the branches. _"Go just past this thing!"_ She nodded and flew out of the way into the open sky, shivering at the rumble of thunder. She bobbed uncertainly as a bit of lightning flashed. Ash winced.

"Chase, you sure getting' her that high is okay?"

Chase stuck up his tail. _"You're the one who called me the livin' lightning rod. Just trust me!"_ Ash failed to not roll his eyes and yelped. He was lucky Dratini tails weren't sharp. That thing had just tried to stab him. Chase watched for a second more, paws clenched in tight rage. If that thing wasn't a Shadow Pokemon, he would have stopped its heart by now. But... he shivered at the human term, placing his paws on his head and rubbing it. It was a term he thought he knew. He glanced up at Amber again, who was just in range of a-

Yes!

"_Now, Ash!" _He jumped off the branch and flung himself from Amber's shoulder, throwing himself into the lightning bolt. His body glowed white and Ash reflexively let go of Dratini as it burst free, rushing towards the falling Pikachu and glowing violet. Chase only grinned and let himself be wrapped in Dratini's grip. They floated together for a moment as Amber looked at the Pokeball, enlarging it. Then Chase sparked, cheeks and all, and the air exploded yellow, blinding them all for a moment. Dratini wailed and let go of Chase, who Ash hurried to catch, following the sound of his squeaking.

Amber blinked stars out of her eyes as Dratini began to fly away, whimpering. She flew towards it, throwing the ball. "Gotcha," she whispered as the ball pulled it inside. It twitched in midair and Amber suddenly squeaked, dropping from the sky and landing on a branch. "Oww..." She had stopped focusing on her flight. The ball, however, continued to fall, undeterred. She jumped off the branch and flew after it, grabbing the ball in mid-air.

Ash scrambled to keep her from hitting the ground and managed with a grunt. "Hold onto that Pokeball," Ash ordered, setting her down. "I don't think we'll be able to do that again."

"_I certainly ain't tryin'." _Chase wheezed, laying in the mud on his back.

Amber tightened her grip on the squirming Pokeball, which tried to escape her grip. Ash swore he saw her eyes glow pink but when she blinked it was gone, and the Pokeball lay still.

At the sudden silence, other than the rain, Ash felt his shoulders sag with relief.

"Well, that was fun," he said after a moment.

Amber glared at him, and then laughed. "You have some weird hobbies."

"Come on," Ash half-whined. "You got to fly, how awesome was that?"

"Speak for yourself," she shot back and then slumped into the mud. "Eww..."

Ash snorted, then looked into the tent. "We need to get a nurse out here for all the birds." There was no way they could carry them, his revulsion aside, while this storm is going, and expect them to live. No matter how much he hated birds, he didn't want to see them all die on him.

"_Not to mention the rest of us,"_ he heard his Rattata groan from where he had been cowering in the tent after getting thrown from the sky. He didn't blame the critter. He knew Chase only kept going because he was stupid.

Ash shook his ball cap and wiped the water out of his face. "Amber, I'm gonna head on to Viridian," he said, standing again. "Can you pass me my jacket? I want to get to the police station asap so we can get some help out here. Can you stay here with the Pidgey?"

"You look kinda bad," Amber protested, blowing on her hands again and passing the jacket, which he had seen were beginning to blister. "And your arm..."

Oh, damn. She had noticed. Ash checked the glove, which lacked rips but was damp. "I'll be fine. This can't electrocute me. Besides, you look wiped and someone needs to stay here and keep an eye on these guys."

Amber shifted on her heels. "Well..."

"_Don't worry, I'll keep him from dying,"_ Chase grumbled, forcing himself up and trotting over. _"Done it before."_

"Just keep the tent closed and stay with Rattata," Ash said with a big grin. "We'll be back in no time."

Amber looked prepared to protest again, but then nodded. "If it isn't dark before, it'll be dark now. Careful, okay?"

Ash grinned. "Of course not! Keep the Pokegear on!" He turned and ran down into the grass, almost slipping into the mud. Amber waited until she couldn't see them anymore, then went back into the tent, zipping it up. One of the Pidgey cooed at her in pain and she gingerly touched its wing.

"It'll be okay," she said softly. "He'll come back."

"And you believe that because...?" Rattata murmured with a wince.

Amber looked at Dratini's Pokeball. "He's too curious to leave me behind." She smiled a little. "Can't say I don't feel the same."

–

Some time later, Ash did return, Officer Jenny in tow with a Jeep. "It's not an ambulance," the blue-haired woman said as she went towards the tent. "But it will have to do in this pinch." She glanced at Ash and winked. "Help your friend out in there and we'll take care of the rest. We're making sure you _stay_ in Viridian this time, Ash."

Ash smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Officer." He heard Chase grumble his irritation that they were actually _saving _the birds and ignored it, unzipping the tent. Amber peered up at him, dark face pale with exhaustion. "Sorry, took longer than I thought to get around the river. I ticked off a Gyarados the last time I was here. Come on, we're gonna let the officer put the birdies in this protected trunk thingy and then go to the Center. Then, we get a hotel or something. That all right?" Amber nodded, still silent. "What happened?" She looked inside, and Ash finally noticed how _quiet _it was.

All but four of the Pidgey inside were dead.

Ash said nothing for a moment, then pulled her into a small hug. "Hey, Officer," he said in a low voice. "I think your Growlithe is going to have to burn a few of them. And maybe my tent too."


	4. Chapter 4: Singed by Circumstances

**Author's Note: **Well, I thought there was going to be a fight in this chapter, but I guess not. Oh well. Instead, more plot, some new characterizations (particularly with Team Rocket, and a new player joins the scene. Let's see what her stake is. Please, as always, read and review! Thanks in advance!

Please see the profile to keep an eye on Pokemon teams.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Singed By Circumstances**

_-"One of the most important things about courage is that it comes from fear."-_

"The boss is in a good mood today."

Viper scowled as she walked into the room. Hearing those words against the sight of the garish pastel walls was enough to make her red hair frizz. "That's the best way to start a shift with, thanks." Her words were dry, wearing more disinterest than her expression. She'd never been great at controlling her face (or her voice), but that was what hats were for. She looked towards the speaker, who merely flicked a short, purple lock away from his ear. "Any idea why?"

The researcher shrugged, moving gingerly from a kneeling position to his full, shorter-than-her, height. "Something about a Safari Zone Pokemon causing damage to Kanto Route One. Entire place is blocked off. Also, the gateway between here and the rest of Kanto had a "mysterious" accident."

"And by _mysterious_," Viper said with a roll of her eyes. "We mean Domino."

"She's good at her job," he said to her, wearing a faint smile. He winced as he walked towards her and she heard a very distinct crack.

"Careful, old man. You have less time left than I do."

James shook his head, looking amused. "I'm not the one in the field anymore, Jessie."

She sighed, pinching her nose. "You need to stop calling me that. It's not-"

"According to protocol, yes, I know," he finished, moving from the crate near her feet to another, unlocking the door. "Just because you're in the combat unit and I'm not, you've become _such _a stickler. You're always going to be Jessie to me."

"Flattering," Viper said, hiding a smile. She looked towards the last crate, watching the Pokemon scamper out of the others onto fake grass and a lamp imitation of sunshine. "Has that one ever come out?" she asked, jerking her thumb at the last crate.

"Once in a while," James replied, continuing to limp from one crate to another, unlocking each one with deft fingers. "A year ago, all we did was lock these. Good old days, hmm?"

_Back when you could fight and we weren't more than just a one-hit wonder._ "I'd rather not remember past blunders, _thank you_." James laughed again and Jessie strode past him towards the last crate, peering inside. A claw swiped at her nose and she leaned back out of the way. "Well, he's as much of a sourpuss as ever."

"Admit it, you miss Meowth's company. He always said what you were thinking."

Jessie chose to ignore this, leaving the cage to hand James the cane. "Stop leaving this laying around."

He sighed. "I despise this thing as much as you hate your name." James took it, leaning slightly over its frame to release one more Pokemon. The dog made happy little growls, nuzzling his leg like he actually liked the human. How disturbing.

"Did you take your pills?" she asked, unable to help herself.

"Don't hen, it doesn't suit you." He threw a Pokeball for her to catch. "You have a mission back in Kanto. I thought you'd want an old friend."

Jessie barely glanced at the ball before clipping it. "I thought you released him for me."

James shrugged. "I tried. He wanted to stay. He loves you."

"Don't be stupid," Jessie muttered. "Pokemon can't love humans."

James scoffed and fiddled with the collar of his uniform. "It was an accident, Jessie."

"_Viper,"_ she snapped with a bit more force than she meant to. "Are you trying to get me sentimental? This is the best job I've had since the news station. If I lose this, I'll-"

"You won't be fired if I keep saying your name," James said with a snort. She shot him a withering glare, and he only shrugged it off. Before the accident, he would have quailed at the twitch of her eyebrow. Had desk work and Pokemon care given him a spine? "If anyone will go, it's likely me and he won't do that. I'm the last one who-"

"Saw the mirage, _I get it._" Always had to rub it in her face, didn't he? Jessie was half-tempted to walk out of the room, but James didn't attempt to carry on a conversation for this long without there being a little extra to deal with. "Look, is this a big mission or not? I'd like to have some of the good coffee before it's gone and I have to do training with Cassidy and her ex."

James sighed in what would have been a dramatic way from anyone else. "Of course you have a big mission. And the mirage has everything to do with it."

Jessie's eye ticked. "Are you telling me I'm being sent on a hunt for another dusty eyelash?" Her mother had gone on the same trek, years ago. Everyone knew what happened to that top agent. She refused to go down that road.

James went to his computer and woke it from sleep, pulling up a picture. "You're not going after an eyelash," he said with a rather patronizing smile. "The boss believes he's found a way to retrieve his old experiments. His words, not mine."

"What, and Domino wouldn't get up from licking his boots fast enough to volunteer?" she said with a scowl. James saw her eyes flickering however. She could chew on her cheek all she wanted, James knew her better than anyone. And she was interested.

He ruffled his purple hair and shook his head no. "He's been impressed with your, well, _progress _since that incident on Mount Moon last year. If you do this, he says you'll be leading the game."

"I am going on a wild Ducklett chase, aren't I?"

James shrugged. "Ask him yourself. I was just to keep you occupied until he got here." From the door to the room, a Pokemon gently chimed and James smiled at it. "And there you are."

Viper shot a scowl at him. "I'm dropping you in a ditch with that fiancee of yours for your birthday."

"Don't talk back to your support officer like that."

She stalked from the room, ignoring his laughter to school herself into the cold mask that their boss preferred she wear. This was why she didn't like seeing James for too long.

Emotional people were disposable. They couldn't do their field work.

She looked at the old Pokeball and prepared to expand it. Her hand shook, and she clipped it to her belt again.

The sentimentality couldn't hurt. Not this time. She could kill with her Arbok.

She could kill with her bare hands.

* * *

"The Pokedex identified the type as Shadow? Are you sure?"

Ash groaned into the phone speaker. "Yeah, Gary. It said it like six times and the thing killed nearly two flocks of Pidgey and Spearow. Regular Dratini are timid as piss, you've said it yourself."

"_Language, dude, there's a kid in the shower and she can read minds."_ Chase drawled from where he was curled on one of the hotel's fluffy pillows.

Ash snorted. "Stop moving, Nurse Joy ordered bed rest for all of us. We got hit by a six-foot snake with scales and anger issues. We're lucky we ain't dead!"

"_Then get over here!"_

"I'm takin' a shower when Amber's done in there." He sighed, turning back to the phone. "You didn't tell me there was an Aura Reader in the Pokedex."

Gary snorted into the phone. "You didn't ask, Ashy." He shrugged. "It's been a new addition we had to throw in there, accordin' to the League head honcho."

Ash glared at him. "Any other functions I should know I need to hack into, _Gare-bear_? Will it explode when sixty feet from my person?"

Gary smirked. "Nah, we figured you would add that." Ash stuck out his tongue, watching the video on screen of the professor clicking away so fast he expected smoke to be flying out of the man's fingers. "As you can tell, Grandpa's lookin' into this whole thing right now. You ain't gonna stay in Viridian too long, are ya?"

"Long enough for Mom to _not bother coming over here_!"

"You were attacked by a Shadow Pokemon, Ash," he heard his mother shout from the other side of the lab and there was a loud crash. "This isn't some Spearow you can blast out of your hair! Those aren't even supposed to be in Kanto!"

"It was a coincidence!" he retorted and Chase snorted.

"_Oh, that's some grade-A bullcrap-arooney my friend."_

Ash covered the speaker with one hand. "I am not lettin' mom drag me back home on the first day because I got hit. And it better have been a coincidence."

Gary heard this and laughed. "She's not gonna do that, Ashy. She's getting you a new tent and a pocket knife or two." Delia scowled from across the room and Gary dropped his voice. "She's just worried, Ashy-boy. You're lucky she's doin' that."

Ash blushed and dropped his eyes. "...Sorry, Gary." Damn, he hadn't meant it like that...

Gary waved him off, wearing the cocky smile that he did with utter grace a lot of the time. "Meh, meh, but listen." He sobered. "She's gotta point. Ya can't use that thing until you know how to cure it, an' you can't send it here either. It'll kill some ten-year-old's Ratty or something."

Ash groaned. "So what am I supposed to do with it?" Shadow Pokemon were super powerful, in exchange for bein' absolutely bat bonkers. He heard one had decimated an entire town in a couple of hours. Underground tournaments were the norm for them in Orre, with more property damage than an angry flock of Altaria.

"Give it to the kid until we get the research done."

"You outta your mind man?" He heard a surprised clatter from the hotel bathroom and lowered his voice. "She's my size when I got my eye Drill Pecked out, you want me to leave her with a damn Shadow Pokemon that only knows how to kill mess?"

On the screen, his former rival sighed. "Ash," Gary said seriously. "You have a Pikachu who only knows how to 'kill mess'." He made air quotes with his fingers. "He can fry the guy if he hurts her and if she does something weird, they're in the same place so you can run."

"She ain't a bad kid, Gary," Ash said stubbornly.

Gary scoffed. "Yeah, you say that, but you didn't have to deal with freaking Sabrina. Nice woman, absolute psycho. Them powered people are. And you said she had some of _their_ tech on her arms."

Ash heard a squeak in the bathroom and groaned. "Okay, you know what? I'm tired, I'll argue tomorrow. Tell Mom to just patch the crap through in a Pokeball so she doesn't have to go through the roadblock. G'night Gary." He cut off the call and stalked back to the bottom bunk, flopping down on it.

"_That was_ very _mature of you,"_ Chase muttered, massaging his tail. _"I mean, they ain't wrong, we don't have too much of a reason to keep her with us."_

"She's got their tech, she's got their eyes on her," Ash said with a sigh. "Better to keep her with us, where we can figure out why and what that says about us, than just leave her here. Sides', she coulda left, but she didn't. That's enough, right?"

Chase shrugged. _"Eh, whatever, man. So long as she don't kill you in yer sleep, I'm down with her." _He rather liked the idea of flying with lightning again. It may hurt Ash, but it was fun.

"You mean like that weird-ass Dratini?" Ash sat up, beginning the process of pulling off and cleaning his artificial arm. "I'm kinda worried to leave that in her hands, man."

"_So give her the Rattata too and shut up."_

"_I'm not goods to be traded!"_ the rodent shouted from a chair.

"_Well, Ash won't train you, he's too busy drooling over Mankeys!"_ Chase retorted. _"He can barely train me!"_

"_And what does that tell you?"_

"_You wanna pick a fight, Spearow snack?"_

"_What about you, you firestarter from the depths of Reverse?"_

"I can't believe that my precious translator of Pokemon language is being used to identify Pokemon swear words," Ash muttered to himself, placing the arm on the nearby table.

Amber giggled as she walked out of the bathroom, pajama shirt drooping over her knees. "Well, it will have your distinctive... personality, yeah, let's go with that." She looked at the top bunk and beamed. "Hey, you know I like heights!"

Ash rolled his eyes at her. "You're a squirt, all squirts like the top bunk. Go to sleep."

"You sure that's all right," she teased. "I might strangle you in your sleep."

So she had heard all of that.

Ash shrugged. "I'd hear ya fall off the bunk," he joked, choosing to breeze over it.

Amber shrugged dark shoulders. "Suit yourself. G'night." She climbed up to the top and flopped on the covers. There was a moment of awkward silence, because Rattata had given up on taunting Chase for the night.

She seemed to understand, which was all he needed, to be honest. Ash kind of hated Gary and his mother and the professor sometimes for being a bunch of logic-oriented dorks when this was a kid, like him, who was kinda cool, like him. Kids didn't run on logic a lot of the time. He sure hadn't at the age of ten. Still didn't.

Emotions were what told him to trust people. This was really all he needed.

With a sigh, he went to the bathroom. He felt like he could shower for a whole night, but sleep sounded way too good for that to happen.

* * *

"Don't throw your Pikachu at a lightning bolt again, Ash," were Nurse Joy's first words to him when he came to get Chase examined the next morning. He felt a lot better now that there wasn't a Dratini trying to murder him.

Ash groaned. "He jumped into it! How is it my fault?"

Chase gave him a toothy grin. _"You're the trainer. You're supposed to train me to be less stupid."_

"Oh, who asked you?"

Nurse Joy clapped her hands and they fell silent, both sheepishly scratching their heads like chastised children. "Whoever's fault it is," she continued. "Don't let him do it too many more times if you can help it. You're the one responsible for his overloads after all."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, ducking his head.

She smiled a little, then continued. "One of the Pidgey is able to fly again. Would you like to take it with you?"

Ash felt his blood run cold, but managed a smile. "N-No thanks, Miss Joy, I'm good."

He ignored Amber's puzzled look as Joy gave a respectful nod. "That's fair, now, as for the Dratini..." She hesitated and Ash straightened despite himself as her eyes went to the incubator where the Dratini slept. "I'm sorry, Ash, but considering it's a Shadow Pokemon, I can't release it, and leaving it in your hands isn't too safe either. You are, despite everything, still a beginner trainer. Without a trainer badge at least, I can't confirm you'll be safe handling it."

"That's fair," he thought aloud. "But you can't leave it here, right?"

Joy shook her head. "Legally I can't, as I don't have a trainer's license to be able to access other people's Pokemon to calm it down if it rampages again."

Amber wilted a little, watching the Pokemon's serpentine form breathe. "What can you do with it?"

"Gary Oak left me a call this morning," Joy answered and Ash sucked in a breath. Gary was gonna kill him for hanging up on him like that. "He said he was going to talk to you about it in person since you apparently can't be civil on a phone line. "He'd be a few days, though..."

"I don't wanna wait around here for another week," Ash moaned. "Mating season starts soon in the forest. It'll be a stinger fest in there."

_"Well if you had the Pidgey, it'd be easier,"_ Chase grumbled. Ash hit him.

Joy sighed, pinching her nose. "Ash, if I may make a suggestion?"

"Course, ma'am," he said promptly. This woman had tried to save his life back then. He owed her at least a listening ear.

The nurse glanced around, like she was going to tell a secret. Then she sat back against the counter, watching the Pokemon Center slowly empty as trainers left for a meal. "Go to Pewter and earn a badge and leave the Dratini with me. I'll pass it onto Gary. It will make a better case when you tell him you want to keep it. Like you're actually a responsible human being."

The pre-teen flushed and nodded. "O-Okay, I'll try that."

She grinned, a playful little smile, and pushed at his chest. "Well, go on then. I want to see you on the League monitors sometime this year, you know?"

He smiled again and bowed his head. "Th-thanks, Miss Joy."

_"That chick likes you,"_ Chase teased from his head as they left the Pokemon Center. Rattata scoffed from her spot on Amber's shoulder.

Ash nudged him. "She was with me for my rehab. Don't make fun of her, man."

_"I'm not, I'm making fun of you."_

"Tch..."

"That Pidgey could have been strong, you know," Amber said softly. "Like Dratini."

Ash's steps didn't slow. "Yeah, I know." _But I can't do it._ He debated saying this aloud, like saying it would make his reasons stronger even though he hadn't said any. But he didn't and Amber just shrugged.

"So what are ya going to do now?"

Ash grinned. "Catch a Mankey."

* * *

"Elfie, come on!"

_"Ve-ee..."_

She dropped, scooping up the feline, and starting to run again. Behind her, the boulders rolled ever closer and she flattened them both into a smaller tunnel and watched the boulders roll by. Her small frame shook in silence, covering her dear friend's mouth with her palm. When the rumbling grew further away, she exhaled as quietly as she dared.

The footsteps... someone had caused that rock slide, someone had to have...

Why would someone try to kill her? She muffled her Eevee's cry again and began to creep away.

Whoever it was, they would have to do better than that to stop her from making it to where she needed to go.

Anabel brushed her purple mop of bangs from her face, slinking along with Elfie in her hands. They were going to have to do a lot better than that to get rid of her.

Still, of all places to be trapped in, the maze of Victory Road was arguably the worst. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked towards the other side of the path. She would have a long way to go to get herself towards Viridian, but she could do it.

Anabel just hoped the wild Pokemon didn't mind someone hitching a ride.


End file.
